In today's work environment, there is increasing emphasis placed on anthropometry and its relation to factory and office equipment. Such equipment is designed not only to perform a particular task but also to conform more closely to the capabilities of human movements without undue stress.
Not only are such considerations taken into account in the design of person-operated equipment, but also in providing such equipment with the capability of on the job adjustments. It will be remembered that chairs have been manufactured for some time with the capability of adjusting the height of the seat as well as the rotational orientation of the seat relative to the work position.
There has been a desire to provide a similar capability for the surface which supports various kinds of equipment such as for example, typewriters and computer terminals as well as factory hand tools or assembly fixtures. This would permit an office or a factory workperson to adjust the level of the work surface with respect to the floor and with respect to the seat to facilitate biomechanical movements and to lessen work fatique.
Along with the above-mentioned desire is the need to be able to easily relocate a work station with respect to other equipment. For example, a workperson who is operating a memory type typewriter and print out unit may wish to relocate a screen which is supported independently of a high speed printer closer to or farther from the printer or to position the separately supported units in an arrangement which is best suited to his or her biomechanical peculiarities.
The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,444 which shows an adjustable support column for tables and which includes a pair of telescoping tubular members of rectangular cross-sections that are moved relative to each other by a screw shaft turned by a motor. A portable jack having a load plate which is moved upwardly or downwardly by a jack screw assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,581. While these patents disclose devices for providing portability and maneuverability of support surfaces, neither provides a simplistic arrangement which would be attractive for large scale manufacture yet which would provide the degree of stability necessary for sensitive electronic equipment.
What is required and what the prior art appears to lack is a support for a work surface, said support capable of being manually adjustable with respect to height above a floor and which may easily be repositioned on the floor to suit the particular needs of a workperson.